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I've just finished reading Long Way Round and have to say while I enjoyed the book I didn't feel that it added all that much to the DVD series of the same name. Such as getting stuck in rivers, thoughts of turning back, bikes breaking down etc. If someone felt in the DVDs that on occasion the sometimes snippy or petty comments between Ewan and Charlie were a bit boring then be prepared for a bit more of it in the book.Don't get me wrong it is interesting and I have no doubt whatsoever the mental toll of a trip like this would be quite large. But I think it was Ewan who said early in the book how he was sick of the production team setting up staged shoots (like getting their portraits drawn on a bridge) and that the show would be more interesting if it focused on the actual trials and tribulations (such as Claudio not getting his license which could have thrown the trip).In my opinion they should have taken their own advice in this regard - instead of whining about the production crew, or how someone hurt someone's feelings because they said the wrong thing at the wrong time - and focused on what must have been really happening. Maybe they thought if you get stuck in 30 rivers you only need to read about it once, and if that was the case I disagree. I want to read about every challenge, every obstacle and every person they met.Sure there is an element of how the personal relationship is going and it has its place, but I honestly thought it just got a little too much air time in the book when there must have been much more interesting things to read about.
It was a FABULOUS book to read. And having also purchased the DVD of the same experience, made it a FABULOUS combination. I hadn't actually intended to purchase the book as well, but it so happened and it made the whole experience, absolutely FABULOUS. I'd read the book, so far, then watch the DVD and so on, all the way through, to the EXTREMELY EXCITING end.So I've just LOVED, the whole adventure and feel as though I know those two WONDERFUL guys and their families.THANK YOU Amazon, for making this possible.
This is a wonderful trip. You get to see things that other travel trips shows skip. These two are good friends open to try anything. even food.When you finish this title you will be looking for the next trip.(Hint it is Long Way Down) This is not just a motorcycle movie, its a view of the world we live in.PS I do not own or ride Motorcycles
It trades off between McGregor and Boorman in the narration, which gives some differing perspective, but neither is a great writer. In 2004, actor Ewan McGregor set out with his buddy (also an actor), Charlie Boorman, on two BMW touring bikes with the goal of traveling 19,000 miles, from London to New York, the "long way round." They travel across Europe, through the Russian Federation, across Asia, through the "'stans" and Mongolia, then catch a flight up to Alaska where they cross Canada and the U.S. Some of their encounters in the former Soviet countries are pretty entertaining, specifically one where they're invited to a man's house for a feast, and after quite a bit of drinking, their host comes down the stairs with a guitar in one hand and an AK-47 in the other. As a piece of travel writing, this book has a lot going against it. It feels more like a companion piece to the DVD. By the time they reach many of the small towns, word of their journey has preceded them, which becomes helpful at times and frustrating at others.
And because the trip was also covered in a documentary, there's a sizable support crew traveling with the riders, which bogs down the sense of adventure and at times reads more like a behind-the-scenes of a reality show. It's quite an undertaking for two bikers with a moderate level of experience. As such, it sometimes feels like an amateur journal, and much of of the landscape isn't as vividly described as it probably could be. But by far, the most interesting part of the trip is eastern Asia, where paved roads give way to wide open land and many of the rivers are too deep to cross on bikes alone. Throughout this part of the journey, they're often forced to place their fate in the hands of locals who don't speak their language and have no stake in their journey, but are nonetheless happy to help. That and McGregor's celebrity add aspects to the book that aren't necessarily good or bad, just make it different from your typical travelogue.
Frankly, though the book is sometimes enjoyable, I'd recommend the DVD.
Furthermore,to sum up the entire North American continent in the course of about 30 pages was an extreme disappointment. A really good trip that gets blown by putting this adventure in the hands of an amateur writer.While this is an overall good story with some great adventure, I foundmyself at times having to figure out what was going on because of a lackin the writers ability. I don't know if this is a result of poorly kept journals or the inability of the writer to fully take on the opportunity to embellish on this tale and turn it into the truly great adventure that I'm sure that it was.As a result, I feel that at least half the adventure gets lost by what is not written. Either they chose not to find any adventure in the this region ( I believe this to be the case as they seemed quite anxious to just get it over with by this point ) or they felt more compelled to focus on the more exotic,lesser known countries.All in all I will say that it is a good read, at times fun, but it doeslack the overall quality that would make this a great book. I hope thattheir next undertaking includes a better written tale to capture and convey to the reader their whole experience.
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